Illustration
Survey- top 10 countries with the most billionaires …
US- 269, Japan- 29, Germany- 28, Italy- 17
We are indeed a blessed nation financially speaking.
We have much to be thankful for as a people/country.
US- 10th largest consumer- chocolate- Switzerland #1.
US- 3rd largest consumer of ice cream- Australia #1.
Email from Pastor Mario, Guatemala …
We are praying for you and the congregation, because we know that you are facing a financial crisis (for us is not new, because we are always dealing with finances).
Review
Wrapping up a series on … How to be Rich.
Not talking about how to get rich, but …
how to be rich in a way that honors God.
In 1st week we learned that compared to most people in the world today, we are rich.
Most families- top 4% of wage earners in the world.
Do not feel rich- but compared to- world- we are rich.
This same wealth becomes-greatest spiritual challenge
It is easy to trust our resources rather than God …
who is the source of our resources.
Also true- because God has given more- expects more
We have a responsibility ...
to use what God has given us,
not just for ourselves, but to bless others.
Money changes people
Have you noticed- people change when- get money?
We have all heard the story of people who won the lottery … A woman won the NJ lottery two year in a row to the tune of $5.4M- today the money is gone- lives in a trailer. Man won $16.2M in PA lottery- lost it all- now lives on a social security check. Another woman won the Virginia lottery- $4.3M- today- deep in debt.
Most of us have seen how money can change people.
However, most of us have never faced the reality …
that money changes me.
If money can change people, it can change me.
Money can change us for the better or for the worse.
It can make people proud, overly confident, selfish.
As we saw two weeks ago- people who have more tend to give less than those who have less.
Average American gives 2% to charity …
those who earn under $10K give 5.2%
The more we have, the less we tend to give.
Money can change people- it can change us as well.
For those who know Christ- money can change us, hopefully for the better, and …
make us more humble/grateful/generous, and
give us a divine sense of responsibility.
God has blessed me w/more- I am responsible for how I use what He has given to me.
Key truth ...
God uses money to test us.
God uses money to test us- to see how we handle material blessings, and therefore whether we are
capable of handling-true riches-come from God
Look at the story Jesus tells …
Lk 16:1-11 NLT (10-11)
How we handle what God has given us in the natural is an indicator of whether we can handle
true spiritual riches.
Lk 12:16-19 (tell the story)
In today’s language- he had fulfilled- American dream
I have more than I need,
I can get-bigger house, nicer car, take vacations
I am happy/secure, because I have all this stuff.
God gave him more to see if he could be trusted with the true riches of heaven- but he failed- why?
He believed that more was always for him.
Illustration- (use multiple boxes w/one box representing margin)- you make $10K a year and you find yourself spending $10K a year. We tend to consume all that we make. God blesses you and gives you a raise or a bonus- all of a sudden you have some extra money- call this margin. What is margin? Let’s say you now make $12K a year. Since you had been able to live on $10K a year- you have a $2K margin- what will you do with it- spend on self?
Typically what do we do when we have margin?
Think about how we can spend it on ourselves.
That is what the guy in this story in Luke 12 did.
Lk 12:20-21
All our wealth means nothing when we face death.
Bonnie’s sister, Lori- massage therapist- has met a couple of widows w/no families. They have no place for their stuff to go when they die, Lori is their only friend, and she executes their estate- often what is left goes to her.
God is not angry w/people in our country because we are more blessed than others around the world.
There are times when God looks at us and says …
you guys are missing the point,
you thought all this blessing was for you,
when I gave you more you consumed more.
Let’s go back to where we started in this series.
We looked at the scripture in Timothy where Paul is instructing Timothy what to say to rich people.
1 Tim 6:17-19
God’s instruction to the rich are so they can enjoy …
God’s material blessings as well as
the true riches of heaven.
Hopefully, as we have gone through this series …
we are developing a heart that desires to be rich in a way that honors God, and as such
we want to give/do more for God’s Kingdom.
Paul- talks about giving- but also doing good works.
Let me switch gears from money for a moment and talk about our schedules- how we use our time.
Illustration- (three different size boxes)- when it comes to time, some of us have 75 hrs/wk, some 100 hrs/wk, others 168 hrs/wk - true? No we all are given- same amount of time- 168 hrs/wk.
Find- same problem w/our schedules as our finances.
I would like to do more but I am so overwhelmed and have so much going on- I cannot take on any more.
Some of us- so busy, we can only make it to church once/twice a month- could never attend a HC.
What can we do to change our situation?
We need to learn how to create margin, not just in our finances, but in our schedules as well.
Pr 21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. NIV (swallows it up- NASU)
In the house of the wise there is margin.
In the house of the foolish there is no margin- why?
Because the foolish consume it all on themselves.
We buy more stuff in the name of providing for our families, but our children do not know who we are.
We think if we had more we would have a happier marriage and we are about to lose our marriage.
We cannot handle the true blessings God has for us because we are chasing after the imitation.
I believe you can be more useful to God if you have margin, both in your finances/schedules.
If God puts someone in your path w/financial need- cannot help because we have no financial margin.
Dave Ramsey advertisement
If God sends us someone to minister to, we cannot because we have no margin in our schedules.
So, what do we do?
We create margin and ask God to use it.
How can we create margin? Let’s talk about money.
One of two ways … earn more or spend less.
We do not need what the world says is necessary for us to have a happy/fulfilled life.
Many of the things we think we need to be happy, did not exist 5 years ago.
Five years ago we lived without them, but today we cannot be happy without them.
We must learn to spend less so we can create margin.
Illustration (two boxes)- how Bonnie/I create margin in w/finances. To give generously- determined to give intentionally. We do this by being a percentage giver. First- give 10% to the church (1st piece of pie). Then we take another 10%- put it in an account- Quicken. Once- put the money in this account- no longer ours. When a need arises, we can take money out of that account- no longer ours, and give it toward that need. 2nd 10% is how we create margin.
You can do the same thing at home …
Go through your clothes- what can you live without. What have you not worn in a long time? Set aside clothes you can give away when you hear of a need- create margin.
You know someone who needs a place to stay but you do not have any room left in your house.
If you have children, put a couple of them together in the same room for a time to help someone.
This creates margin- use the extra room to serve God.
Illustration- we brought a young woman into our home when Sheree was younger. She stayed in Sheree’s room w/her. John/Debbie had a spare room. Instead of making it a crafts/game room, they used it as a spare bedroom. When Bonnie and I had a need, we could stay there.
My making more or spending less we are going to create margin and ask God to use it.
We can do the same thing with our schedules.
Many of us do not have margin in our schedules …
if you were asked- join a HC/serve in a ministry- could not- no margin in- schedule.
Many of us have been sucked into the cultural vortex of busyness- too busy to help out or serve.
Many parents get caught up in- idea- have to have their children in everything for them to develop
What are we teaching our children about priorities?
It may be necessary to limit what you and your family do to give yourselves to what is really important.
How do we spend our days off?
Do we have time to serve others or is our spare time always consumed on ourselves and our needs?
We could be intentional with our time and decide to give a percentage to God as we do w/finances.
In Timothy, we are instructed, not just to give more, but to be rich in good deeds as well.
Closing Illustration … Readers Digest- Jean Chatzky- not Christian article …
Four distinct money types-
the wealthy,
the financially comfortable,
the paycheck-to-paychecks, and
the further-in-debtors.
She was shocked by how much the further-in-debtors spent on entertainment.
First step to wealth- take control of spending
Save for tomorrow rather than spend for today.
Wealthy people possess certain traits like …
optimism, resilience, gratitude-
traits everyone can learn.
Can a poor person learn to be optimistic?
Absolutely- for- next three days- notice/write down five good things that happen.
This will make you more optimistic.
Amazing how much she says lines up w/Bible.
Truth is truth, no matter who says it.
Concluding Thoughts
Many- placing their hope in government bailouts.
Trillions of $’s are being promised to rescue …
the economy,
financial system,
provide millions of jobs.
Root of the problem we are facing- greed/sin of man.
Folly to believe- money can correct man’s problems.
It is only through faith that God’s people can face the difficulties and hardships of this world.
To live by faith is to see God’s hand and His divine purposes in all difficulties and hardships.
In difficult times God will take care of His people.
The Bible does not say we will not experience difficulties, but God will walk w/us through them.
Pro 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.
There is no guaranteed place of safety on this earth apart from you and I abiding in Christ.
1 Pet 1:3-9
Review the declaration we have been building …
God has blessed me
with more than I need,
I am truly rich.
I will not trust in my riches,
but in God who richly provides.
Because I have more
I will give more
And add to it this week …
And do more.
Closing Prayer
